The ultimate festive treat. A homemade Christmas Mince Pies recipe, made with sweet shortcrust pastry and indulgent boozy mincemeat.
Ingredients:
- 225g butter - try to keep the butter in one piece and as chilled as possible
- 350g plain flour
- 40g golden caster sugar
- 60g icing sugar
- 1 egg
- 300g Christmas mincemeat - for that added homemade bake, try my Boozy Mincemeat recipe
There are enough ingredients here to make 24 mince pies using a traditional shallow patty tin.
Directions
To make the Sweet Shortcrust Pastry:
- Put the flour in a large bowl, grate in the chilled butter.
- Rub the butter and flour together to a breadcrumb consistency.
- Stir in both sugars.
- Lightly whisk the egg, then add about half to the bowl - save the rest to brush the tops of the mince pies later.
- Using a blunt knife, mix in the egg, then gradually start bringing the mixture together using your hands. The mixture will seem crumbly, but the heat of your hands will start melting the butter until a smooth dough forms.
To make the Christmas Mince Pies:
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180 Fan/Gas 6
- On an icing sugar dusted board, roll out the pastry to 3mm thickness. I find it easier splitting the dough in half and rolling it out in 2 batches.
- Cut out 24 circles using a 7cm cutter and 24 lids using a 6cm cutter. Gently press the larger rounds into each hole of a shallow 12 hole patty tin (you'll obviously need 2 tins, or make the mince pies in 2 batches).
- Spoon approximately 15g of mincemeat into each pastry case.
- Cover each pie by dampening the lip of each pastry case with water (using your finger is easiest), then place a lid on top, pressing around the rim to bring the 2 parts of the pastry together.
- If you wish, you can use any leftover pastry to decorate the tops of the mince pies with seasonal shapes.
- Once all 24 mince pies are formed, brush lightly with the remaining egg.
- Place in the oven for 12-14 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
- Leave the mince pies to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Attempting to remove them while they're still hot will result in breakages!
- Remove from the tins and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust lightly with icing sugar before serving.
Recipe Tips:
If you wish to make your mince pies using a deeper muffin tin:
- This recipe will make 18 deep filled mince pies
- Use a 9cm cutter for the bases and a 7cm cutter for the lids
- You'll need around 500g mincemeat (fill the cases, leaving a 4mm gap at the top to avoid leakages)
- Bake for 25 minutes - you may need to cover with foil for the final 5 minutes to prevent the mince pies over browning
- Leave the deep mince pies to cool for 15-20 minutes in the tin before you attempt to remove them
The Mince Pies will keep in an air tight container for about a week. Or, why not wrap them in a nice box and give them away as Christmas gifts.
Discover more delicious Christmas recipes on the Seasonal Recipes page, including:
